The present invention relates generally to the field of navigation systems, and more particularly to providing a navigation route through integration of a temporal solar capacity map.
Renewable energy is capable of replacing conventional fuels in four distinct areas: electricity generation, air and water heating/cooling, motor fuels, and rural (off-grid) energy services. Renewable energy occurs through naturally replenishing resources, based on a human timescale, such as sunlight (e.g., solar energy), wind (e.g., wind power), water (e.g. hydropower), and geothermal heat (e.g., geothermal energy). Solar energy occurs either directly using photovoltaic (PV), or indirectly using concentrated solar power (CSP). Photovoltaic is a method of converting solar energy into direct current electricity using semiconducting materials that exhibit the photovoltaic effect (e.g., creation of voltage or electric current in a material upon exposure to light). A photovoltaic system employs solar panels composed of a number of solar cells that absorb light, separate the charges of carriers, and extract the charges to an external site, the resulting in the supply of usable solar power. Concentrated solar power systems use lenses or mirrors and tracking systems to focus a large area of sunlight into a small beam. Solar vehicles are electric vehicles that are powered completely or substantially by direct solar energy. The term “solar vehicle” usually implies that solar energy is used to power all or part of a vehicle's propulsion, however the solar power may be also used to provide power for communications, controls, or other auxiliary functions.
Through technological advancements, the manner in which individuals navigate and/or plan routes to a destination has evolved. Route planning software designs an optimal route between two geographic locations (e.g., origin and destination, start point and end point, etc.) using a journey planning engine. The journey planning engine suggests one or more routes between the origin and destination that may be optimized for different criteria (e.g., fastest, shortest, least turns, toll roads, expressways, etc.) and marks the routes within an interactive map. The integration of the route planning software into global positioning systems (GPS) and portable navigation systems, allows the combination of positioning capabilities (e.g., GPS) and navigation functions, in order to monitor and control the movement of a vehicle from one location to another along the route. The navigation systems receives signals from satellites through a GPS antenna and combines the data from the satellites with the information received from onboard sensors (e.g., direction sensor, speed sensor, etc.) to identify the position and direction of the vehicle on the route. The navigation system displays the current position and direction of the vehicle on a visual output device (e.g., handheld, embedded console screen, etc.) with respect to the route, and updates the route and electronic maps real time, until reaching the destination.